X-2Hs, macro & bugs in flight

Okand wrote:

Walter Ego wrote:

Hi all. I'm more of a forum lurker than a poster, but I thought this post might be useful to fellow macro enthusiasts.

I've been shooting small critters for years, and with a variety of gear dating back to film SLRs. You can see some those pics at https://www.caligor.net/critters. For the past couple of years I've been shooting mainly with a Nikon Z7 (first with adapted F lenses and since last year with the Z MC 105 macro).

I just upgraded my trusty X-T3 to the X-2Hs, though, and yesterday had my first real chance to walk around with it and the 70-300mm lens mounted on the 1.4 teleconverter. Most of these shots are from an hour or two in a city park, and while not my best work they show what this setup can do.

The 70-300 (especially with the 1.4 teleconverter, which increases focal length but not focus distance, and therefore gives improved magnification) is outstanding for insects. The working distance is excellent, and combined with the magnification (around 0.5 for the pair) makes it easy to fill the frame with even twitchy subjects. And the X-2Hs seems like it will be the perfect tool to pair it with (once I figure out the somewhat bewildering menus and settings); it certainly is fast to focus and tracks subjects really well. It also has a pre-shot feature that dates back to the X-T3 but is far more usable now, and which really helps when waiting for bugs to take off or land. I was even able to lock on to hovering hover flies (looks like a little bee, there's a shot of one in front of a yellow flower below), which are incredibly small and fast. And of course the frame rates and fast buffer really help as well.

I have taken pride in my ability to shoot insects in flight with various cameras, but this setup is going to elevate my game for sure. And while I miss the resolution and low-noise high ISOs of my full-frame Nikon, the physically smaller sensor on APS-C offsets much of that advantage. If a full-frame and APS-C lens have the same focal length and magnification, the resulting image on the sensor will be the same size regardless of sensor dimensions, and will thus fill the frame on the smaller sensor more completely. Same number of bug pixels (at a given pixel density) with smaller file sizes and less cropping. The Z 105 macro is a great lens, but does not take teleconverters and requires pretty close work to fill the frame. I tried the equivalent Z telephoto zoom (100-400mm) and found it captures unbelievable images (see the wasp with berries) but is VERY large, heavy, hard to control (for insect work) and expensive. This rig is far lighter, far cheaper, and for this specialized application pretty hard to beat. [For any Nikonians out there, the Z 24-200 with extension tubes also works pretty well, and is cheaper and lighter.]

BTW, this same logic about sensor sizes and working distance also applies to the Fuji 80mm macro (120mm FF equivalent), especially with the 1.4 converter (112mm, 168mm FF equivalent). The damsel flies (dragon-fly looking guys) and the milkweed beetle (orange) were taken with that setup, which provides good working distance if desired but which can also get right in the critter's face. Really a very good lens. But IMO the 300mm beats the 80mm for some situations: half the magnification but almost four times the focal length. The macro is faster, but I always stop it way down anyway given the tiny depth of field. And the higher magnification of the 80mm is only an advantage inside the minimum focus distance of the 70-300.

Anyway, these are all Fuji X-2Hs, with either the 70-300+1.4 converter or the 80+1.4 teleconverter. I used a mix of electronic shutter with pre-shot and mechanical shutter, mostly in the animals subject mode (which tracks well, but tends to mistake highlights on carapace for eyes). I was experimenting with lots of variables as I try to learn the camera, but was mostly in aperture preferred, wide open (~f 7 in most cases), low ISO for stationary subjects, ISO (800-4000) for those in flight.

Fuji 80mm Macro + 1.4 teleconverter

Fuji 80mm Macro + 1.4 teleconverter

Fuji 80mm Macro + 1.4 teleconverter

Fuji 80mm Macro + 1.4 teleconverter

Fuji 70-300 + 1.4 teleconverter

Fuji 70-300 + 1.4 teleconverter

Fuji 70-300 + 1.4 teleconverter

Fuji 70-300 + 1.4 teleconverter

A shot from Nikon Z7 with 100-400mm zoom, for comparison.

Your photos are excellent, this makes me think that maybe i should just replace my XT4 with the XH2S instead of going full frame.

What ISO do you usually shoot at?

I shot these in auto ISO, max of 3200 and min shutter speed as high as I could get away with. Compared to full frame, the X-H2s sensor doesn't perform that well at higher ISOs.